In the last year there have been 7 incidents of intimidation against local administrators in the province of Caserta. This emerges from the Public Notice dossier “Administrators under fire” presented today to the National Federation of the Italian Press.
The cases in the Caserta area
Among those considered the most sensational in Campania, “Public Notice” reports the Molotov cocktail which, on 15 December, caused a fire in the Municipality of Cellole, in a corridor near the council chamber. The bottle containing flammable liquid with a rudimentary primer, consisting of two cigarettes.
The first episode in chronological order, however, takes place on 3 February in Casal di Principe: following the demolition of an illegal building, established by the Prosecutor’s Office, threats were received against the mayor Renato Natale, vice-president of Public Notice. A few days later, on February 6, in Cervino it was delivered to the home of the mayor of Cervino Giuseppe Vinciguerra. It was the mayor himself who reported the incident: “This morning, a package was delivered to my house whose contents I prefer, out of modesty, to omit. It’s obvious that the intent was to create destabilization and apprehension within a family – in this case, mine – perhaps only because of the position that I proudly and dignifiedly hold.”
On 14 May, in Mondragone, Giovanni Zannini, President of the VII Permanent Commission on Environment, Energy and Civil Protection of the Campania Regional Council, declared that he had received threats from some farmers who were implementing a road block. On 29 July in Grazzanise, the mayor was attacked by a woman who appeared to be a relative of the boss Alfonso Cacciapuoti. On October 6, in Lusciano, a drill parked on the land of the mayor Giuseppe Mariniello was set on fire. On 13 December, in Sparanise, there was intimidation against the former mayor Antonio Merola, threatened in the street by a man: “I’ll break your legs”, he threatened.
The “Administrators under fire” phenomenon
In total in Italy there were 315 cases last year (over 5300 in the last 14 years). Campania with 39 cases (-20% compared to 2022) is in second place among the most affected regions, after Calabria. Naples (21 cases) is the second most affected province in 2023, behind Cosenza (30).
From 2010 to 2023, with 794 acts of intimidation, Campania is in third place in the ranking behind Sicily and Calabria. With 416 registered cases, Naples is the most affected province in the entire national territory, ahead of Cosenza and Reggio Calabria. In the province of Caserta there have been 102 cases registered by ‘Public Notice’ in 14 years.
Risk of infiltration ahead of the vote
“The data quantitatively confirm an unacceptable phenomenon, which in some places in Italy is so pervasive as to become an almost “ordinary” way of relating with the institutions. Concrete acts such as physical violence, fires and bomb attacks – not just threatening letters, insults , fake news and insults on social media – they are concentrated above all in the Centre-South – declares the president of Notice Pubblico, Roberto Montà – A condition that becomes chronic, in particular where the criminal presence is stronger and where there are dissolutions of municipalities, a demonstration of a dangerous connection that must be the subject of attention by the legislator in view of a possible revision of the law”.
But if on the one hand the numbers are alarming, on the other they reveal at least in part a positive side of the coin: where attacks and threats are concentrated, there is often resistance to the mafia phenomenon on the part of administrators who do not give in to pressure of the clans. But what is worrying now is the approach of the next elections, when the phenomenon could worsen due to attempts by criminal organizations to influence the outcome of the polls. “In fact, those who are threatened – continues Montà – in addition to local administrators, are also those who are running for public office, a phenomenon recorded in all reports and which requires significant additional attention in view of the next electoral round in June, when 47% of Italian municipalities are voting, which concerns in particular small-medium municipalities, where loneliness, the absence of media attention, and where the “dark figure” of silence often lurks. , and which describes territorial, economic and social contexts in which being a mayor and administrator becomes an increasingly dangerous activity”, he concludes.
Tags: intimidations mayors Caserta year
